The invention generally pertains to speakers and interior lighting systems for automotive vehicles. More particularly, the invention concerns combined speakers/dome light units for mounting to roll bars on vehicles equipped therewith.
Vehicles with roll bars, such as off-road convertible vehicles with hard or soft covers, are now being equipped with more and more luxury or convenience accessories, such as stereo sound systems and enhanced interior lighting. Such vehicles typically have fewer locations for mounting such accessories than the typical sedans or sport utility vehicles in the automotive industry.
This invention addresses the problem of secure and convenient mounting locations for a combination dome lamp and speaker housing.
Accordingly, a combination speaker and dome lamp adapted to be mounted to a roll bar of an automotive vehicle comprises a housing having forward, side and bottom surfaces, the bottom surface mounting a cover for the speaker and a cover for the dome lamp, the side surface terminating in a flange portion having fastener receiving holes adapted to overlie mating holes in a side mounting surface of the vehicle, and the forward surface having a protrusion extending therefrom and adapted to engage an opening in the roll bar of the vehicle. The housing is adapted for coupling to the roll bar by first inserting the protrusion into the roll bar opening and then fastening the flange portion to the side mounting surface via the fastener holes.
In another aspect of the invention, a combination speaker and dome lamp is adapted for mounting substantially at an intersection of a roll bar extending transversely of a vehicle chassis and a side bar extending longitudinally of the chassis. A housing having forward, side and bottom surfaces uses the bottom surface for mounting a cover for the speaker contained within the housing and a cover for the dome lamp contained within the housing. The side surface terminates in a flange portion having fastener receiving holes adapted to overlie mating holes in the side bar. The forward surface has a protrusion extending therefrom adapted to engage an elongated opening or slot in the roll bar. The housing is adapted to be coupled substantially at the intersection of the roll bar and the side bar by first inserting the protrusion into the elongated opening, sliding the protrusion along the opening until the receiving holes in the body flange portion overlie the mating holes in the side bar, and inserting fasteners through the receiving and mating holes.